A Study of Racial Fragility Among Michigan Educators

WEEK FIVE In the words of Joan Jett, "a girl can do what she wants to do." This week I wanted to ramp up my research to Level 999, and that's exactly what I did. So, where to begin? Oh I know, let's start with East Lansing. The first thing I did this week was send my first non-Williamston research email! Before I sent it though, I spent a day editing my introductory email, as well tweaking the informational PDF and adding a photo of myself to the email-and then it was off and away to Dori Leyko! Then, the unimaginable happened. Dori, Superintendent of East Lansing Schools, responded to me with indications of approval! WHOOP WHOOP! You should've been there, it was a beautiful moment. Anyways, she said I just needed extra approval from other East Lansing executives (Glenn Mitcham and Michele Huisgen) and then my research was all systems go. As of now (Sunday), only Glenn has emailed me with his approval, but I am not giving up hope on Michele.  My next beast to slay...

WEEKS THREE & FOUR Well isn't it nice of you to return to my blog! Finals are over and that means it's time for more research. Instead of my normal day-by-day update, this post is going to be a cumulative catch-up to fill you in on what I've been doing over the past two weeks (warning: the content you are about to read mentions minimal research progress-if this is triggering to you in any way, please return next week).  Alright let's go. January 11th, 2021, was your average pre-finals Monday filled with semester review packets and dread. The same goes for Tuesday, January 12th. However, on January 13th, a research plan was born. I created an ultimate to-do list for the remainder of my data collection process.  Here's a summary:  1) To begin, I am going to create a list of schools that fall within my four school categories (small & non-diverse, large & non-diverse, small & diverse, large & diverse).   2) Next, I will write a standardized infor...

WEEK TWO Monday, January 4 2021: Yeehaw partners! We are back on the research horse galloping towards a week of productivity! Today the schedule consisted of 1st-3rd hour so research was not my main priority (as disheartening as that may be). However, after school I did read through the initial draft of my email to teachers that I had written before break-it definitely needed some work, but nothing a night of sleep and hardy breakfast couldn't fix.    Tuesday, January 5 2021: As you probably know, life is not always predictable. In my case, while I intended to grind out my email and have it sent to teachers by Wednesday morning, that just wasn't going to happen. My morning to-do list overflowed with finals preparation and mind-bending chemistry worksheets, and because of that, I couldn't conquer the trek to the top of Mt. Homework. I know how disappointed you must feel as a reader, but don't lose hope! Keep reading!   Wednesday, January 6 2021: Good morning! As previ...

WEEK ONE Monday, December 14 2020: Wow! Welcome to the beginning of my MSA Research blog! After weeks of listening to you scream at your computer in excitement and anticipation for this post, I have finally created it. It's Monday, and today I put the metaphorical cherry on top of my research proposal. After I turned that in, I made some last-minute revisions to my IRB forms and shipped them to Dr. Delp. I now have officially opened the gate to starting my research, and that is a glorious feeling.  Tuesday, December 15 2020: Back again on the ol' blog, and today I used my time to wrap my mind around all of the steps I have to take to launch into this research project. The first step was to email Dr. Spina about my research and get it approved by him because he is the almighty Superintendent. Low and behold, he supported my project! Tomorrow the real grind begins. Wednesday, December 16 2020: Fasten your seatbelts, because today we absolutely annihilated the to-do list. Feeling ...